Poll shows dip in gay marriage public support as postal survey campaign continues

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FORMER Liberal Party leader Brendan Nelson has called on voters to look at the same-sex marriage debate through the eyes of LGBTI Australians while recalling the tragic death of his brother from AIDS.

Dr Nelson has also distanced himself from the warnings of other former Liberal leaders John Howard and Tony Abbott that religious freedoms were at stake if same-sex marriage was made legal.

Asked what he thought about attempts by the ‘No’ campaign to make the postal vote about more than same-sex marriage at the National Press Club in Canberra today, Dr Nelson recalled the experience of his brother, who had died from AIDS in 1990 at age 34.

“He was a wonderful brother,” Dr Nelson said.

“From the time he was about 13, he appeared to be troubled. And it was only later in life that we realised why, what the source of his deep sorrows were.”

Camera IconDr Brendan Nelson addressed the same-sex marriage debate when he spoke at the National Press Club in Canberra.Picture: News Corp Australia, Gary Ramage

Dr Nelson, who took the reigns as party leader after Howard lost government in 2007 and is now the director of the Australian War Memorial, said he tried to look at the same-sex marriage debate through the eyes of someone who was gay.

“Almost all of life’s suffering and misery comes from people making themselves, their own country, the centre of their own lives,” he said.

“I am not homosexual ... but I try to imagine what it’s like. In this debate I’m thinking, I love marriage — I’ve experienced it a couple of times — so I’m very committed to it.”

Dr Nelson would not comment on Mr Abbott or Mr Howard’s remarks but said: “I’d just simply say that the fundamental issue that we’re being asked is do we or do we not support same-sex marriage.”

The former party leader said he had every confidence the government would work to protect the “essential religious freedoms” of Australians if a majority of people voted ‘Yes’ in the postal vote.

His speech comes as a new poll shows public support for legalising gay marriage has dropped four per cent in the past fortnight.

As the public debate over same-sex marriage heats up — with the ‘No’ campaign taking to skywriting their message over Sydney at the weekend — a Guardian Essential poll released today shows support for changing the law has dropped to 55 per cent in the past two weeks, down from 59 per cent.

Camera Icon‘Vote No’ written in the sky above Newtown in Sydney.Picture: SuppliedCamera IconWarringah Gay-Straight Alliance meet for the first time at a same-sex marriage rally in the Sydney on Sunday.Picture: Supplied